LAS VEGAS - To begin: This is not a story about Ron Paul.

Not exactly, anyway. And yet to get where we want to go we will start at OPA!, a Greek restaurant on the edge of town where Clark County Republicans and tea party conservatives gathered on Nevada primary night for what looked undeniably like a Ron Paul rally.

In one corner was Cindy Lake, acting chair of the Clark County Republican Party and a delegate to this summer's Republican National Convention. A self-described "libertarian Republican constitutional conservative," Lake became a Paul convert in 2007 after she heard him advocate for something she passionately supports: the freedom to buy raw milk.

Nearby stood Megan Heryet, celebrating her GOP primary victory in a state Assembly race. Heryet, a real estate agent, substitute teacher and mom, is hardly a Paul fanatic. But she did back him in Nevada's caucuses earlier this year, primarily because she is a big proponent of being free to make decisions such as choosing to give birth to her second child at home instead of a hospital. "It's about being left alone," she said.

And there were the Bunce brothers, Richard and Carl, who marshaled a four-year "Paulist" takeover of the Nevada Republican Party. The tax system is their biggest irritation. "This is the land of the free," said Carl. "How free are we when we've got a government that can choose how much money we keep in our paycheck?"

But we promised this wouldn't be about Ron Paul and, in fact, it really isn't. Rather it's about unpasteurized milk and home births and taxes and, yes, freedom.

Something's going on in America this election year: a renaissance of an ideal as old as the nation itself - that live-and-let-live, get-out-of-my-business, individualism vs. paternalism dogma that is the hallmark of libertarianism.

FreedomFest

Paul, the Lake Jackson congressman and GOP presidential hopeful who champions small government and individual liberty, is one manifestation of it. We saw that with his rising popularity during the Republican presidential primary season and, now, the recent "takeovers" of political conventions in Nevada, Minnesota, Maine, Louisiana and elsewhere that will result in a sizable faction of Paul delegates at the GOP convention.

There are questions of how all of that might affect the choice of a GOP vice presidential candidate and the Republican Party platform.

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Libertarian ideas taking hold

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Libertarian Party's candidate for North Dakota governor won't be on the November general election ballot.

The Bismarck Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/KW1T6M) that Roland Riemers will not be on the ballot in November because his lieutenant governor running mate missed the deadline to appear on the primary ballot.

The state's constitution requires the governor and lieutenant governor to be elected jointly on the ballot.

Riemers' running mate, Richard Ames, did not completely fill out the paperwork to appear on the primary ballot. Riemers appeared on the primary ballot by himself and earned enough votes to qualify for the November election, but the attorney general ruled that Riemers could not appear on the November ballot.

That means only the Republican and Democratic-NPL Party tickets for governor will be on the November ballot.

Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Libertarian governor candidate won't be on ballot

BOCA RATON -- Hes so conservative that he would slash federal spending across the board, including sacred cows most Democrats and Republicans are afraid to touch. Hes so liberal that he would legalize marijuana, immediately withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, and support marriage for same-sex couples as a constitutional right.

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, is completely unlike whats offered up by the two major parties and thats what appeals to his supporters.

Read the full story at Sun-Sentinel.com.

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Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, visits South Florida

by AP

WHAS11.com

Posted on July 5, 2012 at 8:23 PM

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- A Libertarian is planning to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie in this fall's general election in Kentucky's 2nd District. Craig Astor, former chairman of the Larue County Republican Party, will make his candidacy official on Monday by filing the necessary paperwork in the secretary of state's office. The 49-year-old Astor, an ordained minister from Hodgenville, will also face Democratic nominee and perennial candidate David Williams in the Nov. 6 election. Williams has run unsuccessfully for a litany of offices over the years. Astor campaign manager Ken Moellman said he believes this will be a good year for Libertarian candidates because of what he sees as dissatisfaction among voters with Republican and Democratic standard-bearers on the national level.

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Libertarian to enter 2nd District US House race

Idaho Freedom Foundation lands its first old-guard corporate partner: Idahos biggest power company.

It took three years, but the group now has the public support of one of Idahos most venerable and influential institutions.

Its a little surprising, but maybe itll give the Freedom Foundation more clout, said Rep. Steve Thayn, R-Emmett, who is among the sponsors of the foundations 3rd Annual Idaho Freedom Celebration and Banquet in Garden City on July 19.

Thayn said he and his wife, Sherry, paid $500 to be listed as bronze sponsors. Idaho Power is a silver sponsor, and LaMont Keen, the companys president and CEO, and his wife, Vicki, are gold sponsors. The Keens backed last years banquet as individuals, but the compa-ny did not appear on the 2011 sponsor list.

IFF was founded in 2009, but until now Idahos traditional business powers had kept their distance. Republican Gov. Butch Otter wrote a fundraising appeal for the group last year, and GOP Sen. Mike Crapo did the same this year.

Keen did not reply to a request for comment Tuesday. The companys vice president for public affairs, Jeff Malmen, did not return calls Tuesday or Wednesday. Malmen is a former chief of staff to Otter and former GOP Gov. Phil Batt.

Look, were a growing organization, and were an organization that people find has value, said IFF Executive Director Wayne Hoffman. I have a lot of respect for Idaho Power and for LaMont and Vicki Keen. Great company. Great people.

Hoffman, a former Statesman reporter, was a spokesman for former GOP Congressman Bill Sali and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna. Luna and Otter attended last years banquet, which drew about one-quarter of the Republicans in the Legislature.

Founded in 1916, Idaho Power has leaned Republican but supported Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus in the 1980s and 1990s. The company is a leading force in the states biggest business lobby, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry. Earlier this year, IFF helped kill an effort by IACI to create a state-run health insurance exchange.

IACI President Alex LaBeau said Idaho Powers support might be a result of an enticing July program at the Riverside Hotel. Speakers for the $50 dinner are Fox TV commentator Andrew Napolitano and Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca. Both are very good speakers, and thats attractive to corporate donors, LaBeau said.

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Idaho Power joins forces with libertarian group Idaho Freedom Foundation

The Libertarian Partys candidate for governor wont be on the November general election ballot.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger asked for an attorney generals opinion on the matter on June 25. The opinion was released on Thursday. Libertarian Party candidate Roland Riemers appeared on the June 12 primary ballot without a running mate. Although Riemers had earned enough votes to qualify for the November election, the states constitution requires the governor and lieutenant governor to be elected jointly on the ballot.

The opinion is very thorough in terms of making its conclusion. We needed the confirmation, Jaeger said.

The problem occurred because of incomplete paperwork filed by his Riemers running mate, Richard Ames. Jaeger said one page of Ames paperwork was incomplete when it arrived at the secretary of states office. Ames was unable to complete the paperwork before 4 p.m. on April 13, the deadline before the primary.

With the attorney generals opinion, only the Republican and Democratic-NPL Party tickets for governor will be on the November ballot.

The attorney generals opinion can be found at http://www.ag.nd.gov.

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Libertarian Party candidate for governor won't be on ballot

A pro athlete has written a book unique in the fact it isnt self-biographical. Its not about his team either. In fact, its not about sports at all.

Jason Garey, a former University of Maryland star who played in MLS for six years, has self-published a fictional work with a libertarian tilt.

Geauxing Galt the title combines the French/Cajun word for go with a subject in Ayn Rands famed novel Atlas Shrugged -- is set in the near future and touches on economics and politics.

People who share my views are probably going to like it, people who dont are probably going to hate it, laughed Garey, a forward for the Carolina RailHawks in the second-division North American Soccer League. Its pretty one-sided toward economic libertarianism.

Garey, who turns 28 this month, wrote the 230-some pages while recovering from hip surgery this past winter and spring, He completed the work over six months. It became available June 20 on Amazon.com.

I was on crutches for three or four weeks and just started writing, putting down my thoughts and beliefs, and it began to take form, he said. I just thought, What the heck? Ill turn this into a book.

His wife Meghann and mother-in-law, a court reporter in Sacramento, assisted on the project. His mother Kathleen painted the cover art.

Many of the characters and topics were inspired by real-life influences in his native Louisiana, including the coastal wetlands. In one section, an oil driller, tired of politicians squabbling about solutions for the suffering wetlands, quietly buys up land over a decade and creates his own replenishing system.

Not surprisingly, Garey supported Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) for the Republican presidential nomination. Hes the only one who made sense, he said.

Explaining his own political views, Garey said: I didnt know anything until I got a taste of the world. Its part of being a rational person. Politicians on both sides make me nuts. Its frustrating.

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Jason Garey, striker and author: Soccer player writes novel based on libertarian beliefs

Arguably, nothing says “Fourth of July” — Independence! Liberty! Founding Fathers! — than a rally by a Libertarian Party candidate for president. Gary Johnson will touch on all of the above themes –in “a speech on the topic of freedom and liberty” — at a rally in Orlando’s Langford Park tomorrow, starting at 2 p.m. [...]

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Libertarian Gary Johnson to celebrate ‘freedom and liberty’ in Orlando tomorrow

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnsonwill visit spots in Tampa and Dunedin on Friday as part of his longshot campaign.

Johnson, 59, the former two-term New Mexico governor, isplanning a luncheon/meet-and-greet at Gaspar's Grotto, 1805 E 7th Ave., in Tampa from 12:30-2 p.m.

Later, in Dunedin, he will throw out the first pitch at the Dunedin Blue Jays game and then head to a reception at Blur and the Chic-A-Boom Room (319 Main Street).

Johnson last came to Tampa Bay in December to drum up support for his failed bid to win the Republican nomination. He was excluded from most GOP debates.

"The Republican National Committee has turned their backs on a message that appeals more and more to the American public," he said in a Tampa Bay Times interview then.

His platform includes immediately ordering troops home from Afghanistan; creating an easy work-visa program; cutting the Department of Education and IRS; and replacing the current tax system with a 23-percent fair tax on consumption. He supports abortion rights, gay marriage and legalizing marijuana.

One zanycampaign adposted Mondaypaints a grim picture of the new health care law before switching to rock-and-roll music and asking, "Want government the hell out of healthcare? Baby, I'm with you. And I'm running for president."

Johnson'sFriday visit will cap a week of stops in Jacksonville, Orlando, Deerfield Beach and Boca Raton.

Photo by Times staff photographer Jim Damaske, 2011

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Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson coming to Tampa Bay on Friday

A new chapter of an epic story worthy of the pen of Ayn Rand is scheduled to open next October. It centers around John Allison IV.

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Who Is John...Allison? A Randian, Libertarian Business Icon Takes Over the Cato Institute

Republican presidential candidate former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson makes a statement during a debate Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011, in Orlando, Fla.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is trying to elbow his way into contention as a major national candidate who deserves to be take seriously.

To that end, Johnson is joining the many conservatives who have condemned the Supreme Court's ruling that President Obama's healthcare law is constitutional. Johnson calls it a "truly disturbing decision" because the law requires people to buy health insurance, and this erodes freedom and liberty. Johnson is urging Congress to repeal the law.

Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico, is stepping up his campaign in advance of the Republican National Convention in Tampa next month as he tries to tap into libertarian sentiment within the GOP. Johnson is campaigning this week in Florida.

[Photos: At The Supreme Court]

Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul says he will appear at a University of South Florida rally to boost his own candidacy on the eve of the GOP convention. Paul admits he cannot wrest the Republican nod from presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. But he told supporters in an email, "The Republican National Conventon is just around the corner, and the establishment is about to find out what you and I have known all along this election seasonthe future is ours! So on August 26, the day before the convention convenes, I hope you'll join me to at a special rally to celebrate how far our message and movement have come this year."

Paul's delegates to the convention want to inject his libertarian ideas into the Republican platform, such as his opposition to U.S. military interventions abroad and his support for cutting back the federal government in a dramatic way.

However, Johnson hopes to eventually bring Paul supporters into his own campaign in time for the general election this November. To that end, Johnson is expected to speak at a festival honoring Ron Paul in the Tampa area just prior to the GOP convention. That festival is being organized by conservatives who are not part of the official Paul campaign.

Ken Walsh covers the White House and politics for U.S. News. He writes the daily blog, "Ken Walsh's Washington," for usnews.com, and is the author of "The Presidency" column for the U.S. News Weekly. He can be reached at kwalsh@usnews.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

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Libertarian Nominee Gary Johnson Wants to be Taken Seriously

An Obamacare supporter at the Supreme Court (Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) KDKA Radios Robert Mangino talks with Carla Howell, executive director of the National Libertarian Party, about health care reform.

The conversation up to this point has mostly revolved around the Democratstance and the Republican stance on the issue. Is there a third option?

Listen to Robert Mangino weeknights from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA.

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Robert Mangino Talks with Libertarian Leader

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Libertarian Leader Talks Health Care Reform

Jeremy Walters, a Libertarian, is running for S.C. House District 26. He lives in Fort Mill.

Special to The Herald

South Carolina elections officials on Thursday said Jeremy Walters, a candidate for Fort Mills newly formed S.C. House District 26, will have his name on the Nov. 6 ballot if he sends them copies of his properly filed candidate paperwork.

Walters is running as a Libertarian in the general election.

Walters eligibility recently came under review by state elections officials, after an inquiry from the state Republican Party.

The question about his candidacy emerged as yet another potential kink in an already turbulent campaign season filled with legal challenges to candidates eligibility and rulings from the states highest court.

Walters became the only party candidate pursuing the House District 26 seat after Republican Raye Felder was deemed ineligible and removed from the ballot. The S.C. Supreme Court found that Felder and more than 200 other candidates didnt file their paperwork properly.

Felder planned to file Thursday to have her name added to Novembers ballot as a petition candidate.

A path to Novembers ballot

Elections officials recently reviewed Walters records and consulted applicable state law.

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After state scrutiny, Libertarian Walters on path to Fort Mill House District 26 ballot

WATERLOO Cambridges Allan Dettweiler will carry the flag for the Ontario Libertarian Party in an upcoming provincial byelection.

Im running because Im concerned about the direction our province is going into, Dettweiler said. Our government keeps growing bigger and bigger.

People here are expecting too much from the government.

He said people needed to realize government couldnt keep growing and accumulating debt.

Dettweilers no stranger to elections. He ran in 2011s provincial election in Cambridge-North Dumfries.

A father of four, Dettweiler operates a genealogical website and also drives for a courier service. He is married and his wife owns a business in Kitchener.

The Ontario Libertarian Party has been a registered political party since 1975. It advocates property rights and limited government.

A byelection for the Kitchener-Waterloo riding was prompted by the resignation of Tory MPP Elizabeth Witmer April 27. After more than twenty years in politics, she resigned to chair the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

pdesmond@therecord.com

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Libertarian party names byelection candidate

COMMENTARY | Could Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, a former New Mexico governor, play a spoiler role in the 2012 election, especially out west? Most polls aren't even giving him the benefit of the doubt, failing to include him as an option.

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Polls Show Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson Could Be the 2012 Election Spoiler

The National Libertarian Party has issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

"The Supreme Court Ruling on ObamaCare does not matter. It will make little difference to America in the short run, and no difference in the long run.

"Why? Because almost all elected Republicans and Democrats are Big Government politicians - in all things - including health care. After this Supreme Court decision, they will get back to work expanding government involvement in all things - especially health care.

"One thing could make things worse. Electing Republican Mitt Romney President.

"Why?

"Republicans fiercely oppose, and often defeat Democratic Party attempts to massively expand government involvement in Health Care - such as HillaryCare.

"But Democrats usually vote for Republican Party legislation to massively expand government's role in Health Care.

"Republican President George Bush's $1.1 Trillion Government Prescription Drug Program was voted into law by Republicans and Democrats.

"Republican Governor Mitt Romney's Massachusetts state government expansion into Massachusetts health care - RomneyCare - was voted into law by both Republicans and Democrats. With virtually no resistance.

"A Republican-controlled House of Representatives and US Senate would oppose Democratic President Barack Obama's health care proposals.

Originally posted here:

National Libertarian Party Responds to Supreme Court Decision

Re: Jim Sullivans June 24 commentary, How libertarians think about economic justice:

Sullivan provided an excellent description of the libertarian free market position. However, what he presents as market failures were actually caused by government actions.

Many economists have pointed out the 2007 housing bubble was started with the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act that required mortgages be given to subprime borrowers. This was combined with inadequate regulation of mortgage granting and derivatives selling because everyone knew the government (taxpayers) would bail them out in the end. The quasi-government entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now own 90 perce nt of all mortgages. The solution is to stop these bailouts and convert Fannie and Freddie to private entities, not impose more regulations.

Libertarians believe economic justice is achieved by the free market, not the government, picking winners and losers. We believe our present system of crony capitalism or corporatism enables big corporations, with the help of big government, to drive out small businesses. On a local level, this uneven playing field means cities give tax favors to Costco or Walmart that help them drive out mom-and-pop stores.

Nationally, corporations get tax write-offs for paying for employee health care, while small businesses and individuals do not have this write-off (if they did, 25 percent of corporate employees would leave their jobs). Corporations also are able to hire a legion of attorneys, accountants and others to deal with regulations, while small businesses cannot.

Libertarians ulterior motive is to be left alone, to produce and trade goods and services, until and unless someone shows we have committed force or fraud. Economic justice means leveling the playing field. To find out more this election year, follow the Gary Johnson for President campaign.

- Bruce K. Bell,

Moorpark

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Libertarian position

BISMARCK, N.D. North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger is seeking an attorney general's opinion on whether the Libertarian Party's candidate for governor can go on the November general election ballot.

Jaeger says Roland Riemers received enough votes in the June 12 primary to qualify for the November ballot, but Riemers did not have a running mate listed on the June ballot. Jaeger says the state's constitution requires the governor and lieutenant governor to be elected on a joint ballot that a vote cast for governor also is a vote cast for the second-in command.

Jaeger on Monday asked Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to clarify the matter.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Tags: north dakota,news,politics,election,updates

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Clarification sought for Libertarian ND gov candidate

John Allison, retired chairman and chief executive of BB&T Corp., will take over as chief executive of The Cato Institute by year's end, the libertarian think tank said Monday.

Allison, 63, was chosen as part of a settlement of lawsuits filed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch against the Washington-based institute; Ed Crane, its chief executive of 35 years; and several board members.

After Crane retires, he will work with Allison as a consultant on fundraising efforts.

Another key part of the agreement is that the institute will no longer be a stockholder corporation and will be controlled by its members. It had been owned by the Kochs, Crane and William Niskanen, who died in October.

"For a majority of Cato's directors, the agreement confirms Cato's independence and ensures that Cato is not viewed as controlled by the Kochs," the institute said in a statement. "For Charles Koch and David Koch, the agreement helps ensure Cato will be a principled organization that is effective in advancing a free society."

Allison said in the statement he was "happy to assist in resolving the pending litigation and related issues." He said his goal is "to sustain Cato's efforts at moving the country toward a freer and more prosperous society."

Analysts said Allison is a natural fit to run the institute, given his libertarian, free-market beliefs.

He is a devotee of author Ayn Rand and the conservative philosophical theory called objectivism. The theory extols rational individualism, creativity, independent thinking and a limited role for government as a protector of peace.

Crane and Charles Koch touted Allison's leadership and business skills. Besides joining the Cato board, Allison will be able to nominate up to two more members.

"John Allison enjoys wide respect throughout both the business community and the free-market movement," said John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, a libertarian policy-research group in Raleigh. "I expect the Cato Institute to prosper under his leadership."

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Allison, former BB&T chief, to lead libertarian Cato Institute

Theresa Reed posing with the flag.

Theresa "Darklady" Reed has been provoking discussion in politics for more than a decade.

In 2002, she ran as a libertarian on a platform of sexual freedom for the Oregon House of Representatives, where she earned 10 percent of the vote, and then in 2004 she ran for the Oregon Senate. Reed also joined a write-in independent presidential campaign with writer Desmond Ravenstone.

Since those campaigns, Reed has moved from politics to activism, holding a board seat on the Free Speech Coalition and Free Speech Alliance, and writing about sexual freedom issues for the Huffington Post and AVN & GayVN magazines.

But one photo has followed her throughout her evolution: an image of herself nude, draped in the American flag.

The photo, originally taken for a calendar of female libertarian politicians but never used, employs a 52-foot-long nylon American flag that Reed took from the Oregon Libertarian Party headquarters.

"I love my country and my flag, which the picture represents," Reed tells Whispers, comparing it to the photo of Mae West as the Statue of Liberty.

Reed says she has recieved some messages of support for the image, which appears on a number of social networks. But veterans have also expressed anger, telling her she is dishonoring a flag that people have fought and died for.

Reed compares the reaction to the one leveled at Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown, who was banned from speaking on the House floor this month after using the word "vagina."

"Both bring home the fact that women in predominantly masculine pursuits have these body parts too," said Reed, who says she has told veterans who wrote her that the photo was meant in a positive sense. "But I like that the photo inspires conversation."

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Libertarian Activist's Nude Flag Pose Still Grabs Eyes, Ire